5 key takeaways from the WHO’s new IHR amendments

Countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva last week approved new amendments to the International Health Regulations, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Saturday.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) are a set of international laws that are legally binding on all WHO countries. Claps and cheers reportedly erupted at the World Health Assembly when country delegates agreed to the IHR amendments. 

The amendments are the result of two years of negotiations, which began after WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted the IHR be updated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are five key takeaways from the new IHR amendments.

The director-general has unilateral power to declare a ‘pandemic emergency’

Director-General Ghebreyesus may declare public health emergencies and pandemic emergencies at will. He requires no approval from a committee or oversight body. 

Once an emergency is declared, it triggers the IHR, which obligate governments to obey the WHO’s rules. These rules require countries to use resources that go towards monitoring and tracking cases, surveillance, research, and developing and distributing “health products” such as masks and vaccines.

Each country must establish a WHO enforcement body

The IHR amendments also require each country to establish a “National IHR Authority,” which is a governmental body tasked with enforcing the WHO’s regulations in that particular country. This is different from the existing requirement to establish a National IHR Focal Point, which is simply a point of contact in each country for WHO officials.

Countries must address ‘misinformation’

Another new addition to the regulations is that governments must develop “risk communication” in a pandemic. This requires “addressing misinformation and disinformation” such as social media posts questioning the safety of vaccines or promoting scientific evidence that challenges conclusions made by public health authorities.

Member countries must pay for ‘equitable access’

WHO member countries must fund the pandemic response in poorer countries, which the IHR refers to as “equity.” The term “equity” or “equitable access” has been added eight times to the amendments, which require governments to:

[I]dentify and enable access to financial resources, including through the Coordinating Financial Mechanism, established pursuant to Article 44bis, necessary to equitably address the needs and priorities of developing countries, including for developing, strengthening and maintaining core capacities. 

The WHO will issue mandates concerning ‘health documents’

The WHO will make decisions about how countries issue and authenticate “health documents,” which would seemingly include the international certificate of vaccination mentioned elsewhere in the IHR:

WHO, in consultation with States Parties, shall develop and update, as necessary, technical guidance, including specifications or standards related to the issuance and ascertainment of authenticity of health documents, both in digital format and non-digital format. Such specifications or standards shall be in accordance with Article 45 regarding treatment of personal data.

According to Article 45, governments should not publicize a person’s personal data unless it is necessary for public health.

The WHO has been working on a digital international certificate of vaccination since last year. 

In June 2023, the WHO announced the launch of its “digital health partnership” with the European Commission that will involve the development of global vaccine passports among other “digital products to deliver better health for all.”